We must change to succeed. But change doesn’t have to be hard. I show you how to make simple, positive change to your marketing, your work, and your life.

If what we are doing isn’t getting us closer to success, then we need to change what we are doing.

I teach successful change — in your marketing, your work, and your life.

(Please don’t stop because of the scary “change” word. None of us actually likes change, but it is inevitable (in science it’s known as the Three Laws of Thermodynamics) and absolutely essential for success. I spend a lot of time showing ways to make change simpler and easier.)

As a kid, I was heavily influenced by that whole “give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime” analogy: share useful, effective knowledge and you make others lives — and the world — better.

After taking my Meyers-Briggs and Career Aptitude tests, my counselor said, “You were born to teach and write. Don’t try government work.” (He proved right. When informed my Armed Forces Battery exams made me eligible for the position of my choice except in Intelligence, I asked why not Intelligence. The recruiter studying my scores looked puzzled and said, “I don’t know,” so he studied my transcript for a moment before smiling, nodding, and saying, “It’s ’cause your school record says you question authority.” I asked, “And why shouldn’t Intelligence question authority?” You see the problem.)

I like showing people how to feed themselves — and their whole organization.

I’ll show you how to take advantage of the free tools available to reach your target — and I’ll also show you when “free” is very expensive. I’ll show where to focus to get the results you need, and give you a program that gets you where you want to be — while still having time for what you like to do.

“Carolyn is an above & beyond instructor…full of passion & inspiration for the subject matter. I very much appreciated her instruction & course material!!! “

I’ve taught hundreds of students personally, and have done presentations for thousands more. The most common questions are always:

“How do I do it right and what’s the secret to improving my results?”

I can actually feel the relief when I explain that “right” is just responsive and “the secret” is turning the focus from “what do I want to push onto people” to “what problems am I solving and how can I demonstrate that.”

Tactics Lose Their Effectiveness, Strategy Grows Stronger

The tricks don’t work, at least not for long. People get used to them, then they block them out, then the tricks just become annoying. (There’s a reason why the “blink” tag was killed and once successful ad campaigns die.) But strategy makes your marketing flexible and resilient. It gets stronger as you get feedback from your audience. I get you focused onyour target — people actively interested in taking the action you desire (like giving you money — even if you are a non-profit). So no “one trick pony” one-size-fits-all tactics, and less stress and expense trying to keep up with the latest “tricks.”

Learn From My Mistake

In late 2004 I opened a quality brick-and-mortar yarn shop and grossed in my first year more than half the TNNA member yarn shops annual receipts. Unfortunately, it cost me more than that to keep the doors open and the fiber flowing. The following year I knew I had to make a choice: a) try to tap dance faster and sell more to local customers; b) sell cheaper products, eliminate the staff and do it all myself; or c) reach a wider audience online. Caught up in the day to day struggle and burning out faster than a paper match, I chose A by not making any changes (except trying to live on no sleep and no profits). Eventually, the situation devolved to plan B (with my customers less satisfied as my stress levels rose), and less than a year later I shut the doors depressed and massively in debt.

After that I returned to my former career as a web developer to try and pay off the debt. I spent several months sitting in a freezing, opaque fishbowl making changes to client sites while my boss sat beside me yelling into the phone for 8 hours a day and in between hissed at us to up-sell clients to the “SEO package.” This package consisted of regular website updates & adding a WordPress blog to their sites which they could and should be doing themselves for free. Once it was discovered I could successfully train clients to use WordPress in a 90-minute phone call, that was added to my tasks — along with any other training jobs. One day I spotted a Gold-Crowned sparrow peering in at us through the slit window near the ceiling and realized I was sitting in Hell.

So I started teaching classes for the Peninsula College Entrepreneur Institute to show other small business owners (start-ups) how to avoid my mistake and move online to reach their target audience no matter where they lived. Many of them grabbed the opportunities to small business that the Internet offers. During the classes, I found myself spending several hours a week teaching some students how to make lasting positive change in their businesses — and their lives. This was Heaven.

I still teach face-to-face classes, but I want to reach more people.

“This class was so awesome that my head almost exploded.”

So if you —or your organization— need a custom presentation, training, or educational materials,let’s talk. You may also want to sign-up for my newsletter to get notices of upcoming events and posts (No spam and I would Never, ever share your email address without your consent. I promise.)

Otherwise, please enjoy the site and, if you find the information useful, you can pay me back by using one of the affiliate links or think about buying me a latte.

Disclosures

Some links on this site are affiliate links meaning that, at no additional cost to you, I may earn a very small commission if you click through and make a purchase. If you do so, I greatly appreciate the support.